Harry Styles may be hosting next week’s episode of Saturday Night Live, but that didn’t stop him from making a surprise appearance during Ryan Gosling‘s hosting stint.
The Project Hail Mary actor returned to the sketch comedy series on (you guessed it) Saturday night, where he hosted the sketch comedy series for his fourth time. After beginning his monologue by recounting how March is a great time to host SNL, Gosling looked in the crowd and said, “Is that Harry Styles?”
The camera panned over to the Grammy-winning artist, which led the audience to erupt in applause and the actor to question, “What are you doing here, man?”
“Well, I’m hosting next week and it’s been a while, so I just wanted to watch, get a feel for it,” Styles responded.
“Yeah, that’s so professional, that’s awesome you’re here. I just wish someone would have told me,” Gosling added. “I have a new movie coming out, it’s called Project Harry Styles. Nope — it’d be a good movie, though. … And people are saying it’s like E.T. meets Interstellar, which is crazy because those are like, what, two of the best films of all time, so they’re kind of like saying it’s like, what, double that? I don’t know, I didn’t say it.”
“I’ve always loved making films about space. It’s just something about them gives me perspective,” Gosling continued, as he trailed off about the “perspective” making space-related films gives him, before the camera panned over to Styles instead of himself.
“I’m sorry, why are we on Harry’s side?” he questioned, to which the “Aperture” singer responded, “I don’t know, I’m just listening.”
The Oscar nominee replied: “Well, could you listen less cool? I think your coolness is becoming a bit of an issue.”
Later in the monologue, a group of dancers dressed like aliens joined the actor asking if they were still going to perform their planned number. Gosling ensured they would put on the performance, to a song from his movie Project Hail Mary. “It’s very poignant and it’s the anthem of our generation. Some have said it’s called ‘Sign of the Times,’ and oh my God, it’s by Harry Styles,” he said. “Now I gotta sing it in front of him.”
Gosling went on to perform a hesitant rendition of Styles’ “Sign of the Times,” before he began belting out, “I’m just Ken,” lyrics from the Oscar-nominated Barbie song.
Styles’ dropped his fourth studio album Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally on Friday, marking his first release in four years. His cameo during Gosling’s monologue arrives just one week before he’ll serve as host and musical guest for March 14’s episode.
In the cold open, Colin Jost joined to impersonate Pete Hegseth, who addressed the press amid the United States’ conflict with Iran.
“Alright, listen up, dipsticks, OK? Cause this is actually serious, OK? As you may have seen from our epic Pentagram meme drops, we’re treating Iran like a breathalyzer in my car and blowing it the hell up,” he said. “The good news is our operation couldn’t be going better and everyone loves it.”
Jost’s Hegseth later added, “What is happening? OK, I’ll tell you what’s happening. OK, we don’t know, OK? And that’s the whole point. If we don’t know what we’re doing, then Iran definitely doesn’t know what we’re doing.”
Ashley Padilla was also in the cold open to portray former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, with Jost’s Hegseth inviting her onto the stage, noting she’d been “reassigned under the bus.”
“I just want to make it clear that I didn’t get fired, I self-deported,” Padilla’s Noem said upon her arrival. “And though I may be leaving this job, I will not be ending my mission. As I told my plastic surgeon, the work is never done.”
Earlier in the week, Gosling and SNL poked fun at the many times the actor has stepped into the role as host. In a promo, the Barbie star mistakenly thought he was joining SNL‘s esteemed five-timers club (for those who have hosted the show five times), though cast member Mikey Day reminded him it was actually only his fourth leading appearance.
Gosling he made his SNL debut on Dec. 5, 2015; his second appearance on Sept. 30, 2017; and his most recent hosting gig was on April 13, 2024. He made one additional cameo on April 6, 2024.
Gosling is currently on a press tour for Project Hail Mary, which releases on March 20. The film is an adaptation of Andy Weir’s bestselling sci-fi book, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
The three-time Academy Award nominee served as the 14th host of season 51, where he was joined by musical guest Gorillaz. Last week, Heated Rivalry breakout Connor Storrie hosted SNL, and Styles will make his first hosting appearance on the show in six years as next Saturday’s host and musical guest.
Alongside Storrie, Bad Bunny, Amy Poehler, Sabrina Carpenter, Miles Teller, Nikki Glaser, Glen Powell, Melissa McCarthy, Josh O’Connor, Ariana Grande, Finn Wolfhard, Teyana Taylor and Alexander Skarsgard have already hosted season 51 of SNL.
